There is a steel pin about 2.5" long in the back side of the outer knee bolster (the padded part). It fits into a rubber boot mounted in a hole in the inner knee bolster (the stamped steel panel). It is a guide pin.

There are three T30 screws holding the padded, outer bolster in place at the upper edge by the steering wheel. My middle one (the inner of the two on the outboard side of the wheel) seemed to be missing. I assumed that it was lost by my indie shop years ago when they had to get up in there for something. I removed the outer two screws and started trying to work the panel straight back toward the seat enough to get the pin out of the boot. At that point the panel drops free.

I was able to rotate the panel on the axis of this pin. It was not much, but it was enough to clearly show that the rotation was centered on this pin, so it must be hung up on the pin somehow, or the pin was trapped in the rubber boot. I could get my hand on the backside of the rubber boot but could not pull it off. I figured it was one of those that was fit like the isolators on the main fuel pump cradle underneath the car (Bosch, LH2.4). I was correct. There was no way to pull it through from the back. It had to come out from the front, which was fully blocked by the panel that was held in place by the pin that was trapped inside the boot.

Ugh...

It turned out that the middle T30 was still there, but the padding had been pulled over the head. It was still holding the panel in place, though, as the backside of the panel is a stamped steel plate, so the screw hole was through steel.

One this was discovered and the screw removed the pin slid out of the boot and the panel came off with little to no effort. I had bent both steel plates trying to get them free. I repair musical instruments for a large chunk of my income, so I have a lot of artistic level metal working skills, so unbending the two plates was easy enough - ten minutes, perfect fit.

I just wish I had seen that recessed screw head earlier. It would have saved me about two hours or work and online research!

Everything buttoned back up very nicely.

I get to do it again this coming week when the new amp arrives. This time should go *much* smoother, though.

DOH!

Thanks, guys!